[bbfan1991]

A woman who treats her pet kangaroo like a child has been forced to move town because she is terrified authorities may take her beloved companion away.

Christie Carr dresses Irwin the great red kangaroo in nappies and children's clothes and even has a special car seat for him.

The 39-year-old from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, nursed the partially paralsyed marsupial back to heath after he fractured his neck and suffered brain damage in an accident as a joey.

Carr offered to take Irwin home after meeting him while volunteering at a local animal sanctuary and now the companions share a bed at night.

'He's always stealing my pillow,' she said.

Last year, Broken Arrow's city council introduced a permit which required exotic animal owners to have a $50,000 liability insurance policy to cover any injuries inflicted by the animal.

Devastated that she couldn't afford the insurance policy - which was paid for by an anonymous donor last year - Christie decided to take the kangaroo to her parents' house.

Native to Australia, healthy male great red kangaroos can grow up to two metres tall, weigh more than 90kg (200lbs) and hop over seven metres in a single leap.

However, vets have said Irwin - who cannot stand or walk on his own, although he can hop with assistance - would probably not grow larger than 22.5kg (50lbs) because of his injuries and because he has been neutered.

How sad.